Illinois braces for surge of nuclear waste traffic

July 14, 2002|By Julie Deardorff, Tribune staff reporter.

As the federal government moves closer to approving Yucca Mountain as the graveyard for spent fuel from nuclear power plants, Illinois and other states must prepare for the decades-long procession of trucks, trains and barges hauling the material to Nevada.

In Illinois, a transportation crossroads, mobile nuclear waste could be a near-daily phenomenon. More than 69,000 single-container shipments of highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel could be carted through the state--and possibly on barges across the Great Lakes--during the first 38 years of operation after the Yucca Mountain site opens in 2010, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Currently, fewer than 10 shipments of nuclear waste travel across Illinois each year.

Though the U.S. has spent more than two decades and at least $4 billion studying the feasibility and safety of the Nevada site, terrorism concerns have made transportation of the waste more controversial than ever. Government officials downplay the risk, pointing to a 30-year track record of transporting spent fuel, which involved 2,700 shipments, without a harmful release of radiation.

"The reason we need Yucca is that we're running out of space to store our fuel," said Tom Ortciger, director of the Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety. "And with concerns today over terrorism and national security, it makes sense to work toward a plan to empty spent fuel pools and move to a safer method of long-term storage."

But critics say the unprecedented transcontinental transfer of nuclear waste increases the risk of accidents, and past shipments do not reflect the current threats posed by terrorists. In addition, consolidating waste will not eliminate on-site nuclear waste storage at commercial reactors--high-level radioactive refuse, uranium fuel that can no longer produce heat for electricity, must cool on site for several years before it can be moved.

"I think of it as a runaway train," said Paul Gaynor, a staff attorney with the Environmental Law and Policy Center in Chicago. "They haven't done full-blown testing on casks and that's scary. Emergency preparedness is an issue. Now [Yucca Mountain] is moving forward and there hasn't been enough focus on transportation issues."

Senate approval

Last week, the Senate approved the Yucca Mountain site, sending the matter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

If the repository is licensed by the NRC, the plan calls for shipping more than 70,000 tons of radioactive waste from 131 nuclear power plants in 39 states to Yucca Mountain, according to federal officials.

Though the method of transportation has not been determined and the casks have yet to be built, "representative routes" for the shipments have been identified. According to these plans, more than half of the eventual shipments could pass through Illinois on rail lines or on roads as well-traveled as Interstate Highway 94.

Illinois, which has spent nuclear fuel stored at eight sites, has 12 operating nuclear power plants and generates more nuclear waste than any other state in the nation. Not only will the state's own 5,360 metric tons of spent fuel be moved along the designated routes, but Illinois is expected to see shipments from almost all the commercial reactors east of the Mississippi River.

Illinois, however, is more prepared than most states. It is one of only two states with a cabinet level agency devoted to radiation monitoring and nuclear safety. Since 1983, the Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety, with the Illinois State Police and the Illinois Commerce Commission, has transported more than 460 shipments of spent nuclear fuel.

"Now other states are coming to us, asking, `How do you do what you do?'" said Patti Thompson, a spokeswoman for the Department of Nuclear Safety.

Of three possible shipping methods--truck, rail and barge--the government's preferred method is by train, which would result in fewer shipments. However, there is currently no rail access to Yucca Mountain, which is on federal land about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

The primary rail route would be the Union Pacific from Chicago to Salt Lake City and would use "mixed freight trains," even though the Association of American Railroads recommends using trains dedicated to spent nuclear fuel. Under the "mostly rail" scenario, about 68 percent of all shipments to Yucca Mountain would travel through Illinois: about 8,000 combined rail and truck shipments over 24 years, according to the Department of Energy.

Routes converge

The main truck routes out of the New England and the Middle Atlantic States converge on Interstate Highway 80/90 near Cleveland, pick up shipments from Midwestern reactors and move through Chicago to Salt Lake City. Using the "mostly truck" plan, about 64 percent of all shipments pass through Illinois: about 39,000 truck shipments over the first 24 years.